Mark Fountain, son of Matthew Fountain BM1C, was kind enough to share the following information regarding his father’s time aboard the Calvert during WWII.

Matt Fountain enlisted in the Navy in Boston, MA in early September 1942. He first attended boot camp at Newport, RI and then went through at the Portsmouth, VA Amphibious Training Base and the Ft. Pierce Florida Amphibious Training School, During his time at the Portsmouth training base he spent time training with the USS Harry Lee’s boat crew (who were transferred to the Calvert when the Harry Lee broke down leading up to the invasion of North Africa).

Matt stayed in training at Ft. Pierce and he then joined the Calvert’s crew on March 12th, 1943 as a Seaman First Class. During his time aboard the Calvert he served as a Coxswain and Boatswain’s Mate (second class and first class temporary) where he piloted landing craft during the Calvert’s actions in Sicily and in each of the invasions in which the Calvert participated during the Island Hopping campaign in the Pacific. He was transferred off of the Calvert on September 8th, 1945. Matt was discharged from the Navy in mid October and returned home to Lynn, MA.

Mark has done an amazing job compiling a history of his father’s time during the war. With his permission I’ll be sharing more content from his work in the future.